" The group was initially formed to support organisations working towards the protection of the national artistic patrimony of Piemonte and other regions of Italy.
The profits made out of the concerts are used towards the restauration of Churches, paintings and frescos.

The 'Archilegio Ensemble' gathers musicians of different musical background and origin and aims to promote and reveal some of the less knowen Baroque repertoire.

The common passion for the music combined with a strong sense of harmony within the group have allowed the Ensemble to achieve considerable musical results, therefore obtaining positive feedback from critics and audiences. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Ensemble Arcomelo, founded by Michele Benuzzi, is a group of varying number which unites musicians who have been dedicated for years to study of the Baroque music and the problems related to its performance on period instruments.

Its repertoire spans from the early seventeenth century to the Classical period. Its main interest is in the works of composers of the late-eighteenth century, especially the concertos for harpsichord and orchestra unpublished and still in manuscript form in European libraries.

"he cultural association Ensemble Baschenis takes its name from the well-known XVIIth century painter Evaristo Baschenis, who is considered the most accomplished painter of musical instruments in figurative art. Affiliated to the association are few selected Groups and Ensembles of high quality performers. Ranging from music from the Renaissance to XVIIIth century music for mandolin, the association organizes concerts of Early Music at the highest level of philological research, from both a musical and a technical point of view. Different formation and fields of interest characterize our Association's vast repertory: from a duo for voice and lute, to the Ensemble Salomone Rossi which has a specialized interest in the repertoire of Jewish music from the Baroque period. ... " See website for more details. (ed.)

"The Ensemble D.S.G. (Soli Deo Gloria) is a complex vocal and instrumental composed of young musicians engaged in the study, in the rediscovery and implementation of new musical heritage of Italian Baroque. The Ensemble, born in 2000, performs especially in Bologna and its glorious musical institutions, among which figure in the first place, the Chapel of St. Petronio. ... " (Google translation) Visit website for more information.

"The Ensemble dei Suoni Residui was born in 1994 to perform some music commissioned for a theatrical spectacle. The music played was a particular mix between the music and popular period between the end of the fifteenth century until the middle of XVII (or Renaissance and Baroque) " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"The Ensemble dell'Accademia was created within the Accademia Bartolomeo Cristofori, a Florentine Institute which is dedicated to the spreading of fortepiano and its repertoire. The musicians of this ensemble both collaborate with the best ensembles and orchestras which are active in the field of early music – Sonatori della Gioiosa Marca, Barocchisti, Europa Galante, Concerto Italiano, Giardino Armonico, and usually play as principals in some important symphonic orchestras – Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra of Toscana and Orchestra of the Teatro Verdi of Trieste. They have decided to put together their experiences in a joint project which aims to offer a modern listening of the classic and pre-classic repertoire for wind instruments. The performances, which are given with historical instruments, allow the Ensemble dell'Accademia to play the music in its original timbre and sound context, and also to recover its chamber value. Focusing on the period between the Eighteen and the Nineteen century, when the wind instruments started to be played in soloist and chamber roles, the Ensemble dell'Accademia dedicates itself to the philological reinterpretation of the great repertoire, as the quintetti with fortepiano by Mozart and Beethoven, but also – and particularly – to the research of unpublished works of composers which are too often superficially considered minor ones. The ensemble is particularly interested in the collaboration with the Tuscan Musical Treasures Project, and in the research of the music of those composers who worked in the Tuscan area, where, dating from the second half of the Eighteen century – thanks to the contribution of French and Austrian composers who were related with the Court of the Lorena, the wind instruments had an essential role in the evolution of the orchestra of the Grand Duke. The production for wind instruments by composers such Cambini, Boccherini, Nardini, Giovanni Francesco Giuliani and Joseph Lidarti is revisited in the context of the relations and reciprocal stylistic and formal influences that were established during the second half of the Eighteen century in Tuscany and in the main European musical centres. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Ensemble Enchiriadis, founded in Rome in 1998 by Andrea De Luca and Silvia Scozzi, perform music of the Middle Ages and the Reinassance particularly related to the cultures of the Mediterranean area.
The project is carried on by musicians from different backgrounds, who deal with early music from different points of view: historical, folkloristic, philological, interpretative, including the manufacture of the instruments. " See website for more information. (ed.)

“Ensemble Harmonia Musicae, recently formed, brings together musicians sharing a love for early music repoertoire. The group comes in various configurations, depending on the programs, while paying special attention to vocal music / instruments of the period at the turn of the'600 and'700.“ (Google translation)

"Formed in 1993 by Neapolitan musicians dedicated to research in the field of early music, "LeMusiche da Camera" from the outset has directed its activities towards the rediscovery of songs unpublished or little known Neapolitan composers of the XVII and XVIII, with executions based on the recovery of executive baroque practice. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"Les Nations, founded by Maria Luisa Baldassari, is a musical group composed by musicians trained in historical performance of baroque and renaissance music, with an improved experience both in practical music, research fields and teaching in conservatories, musical schools, stages and masterclasses. Les Nations has played in many Italian and European festivals. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"This international group, specialized in medieval and Renaissance music, was founded in 1991. Besides a busy concert calendar, ensemble members collaborate regularly with important educational and scientific institutions, in particular the Centre de Musique Ancienne de Genève, the CERIMM of Royaumont.

Much of LUCIDARIUM’s research and is dedicated to repertoires considered "minor," that were, in reality, powerful vehicles for spreading and evolving new musical concepts during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This music, meant for daily use and wide distribution, represents a mirror of the taste and mentality of the era, at the same time raising a series of questions about the relationship between written music and oral transmission, and about the continuous exchange of forms and themes between the different levels of medieval and Renaissance society. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“Founded by Antonio Frigé in 1989, as the natural evolution of the Duo Cassone-Frigé, the Ensemble "Pian & Forte" is a group with a variable structure formed by musicians dealing from many years with the study and the development of ancient music. Its aim is the rediscovery and the performance with original instruments of works dating from the early 17th to the late 18th centuries. And such a research, together with the extreme versatility and the fine musicianship of all its components made the Ensemble "Pian & Forte" one of the leading italian groups.

Up to now the Ens.Pian & Forte has recorded several C.D., issued by Nuova Era Records e Giulia Digital e Agorà with great approvation of the public and of the international critic who has more than once acclaimed them as "CD of the month". The "Pian & Forte" Ensemble plays for Dynamic.“

"The Ensemble Pricipio di Virtù began performing theater for music and narration to become an autonomous form of entertainment. The ensemble performs in churches and castles, ruins and forests, wedding rituals, private parties. ... " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

The Speculum ensemble works with a basic formation of four male voices with precise ranges that correspond to 15th- and 16th-century musical theory and practice. The polyphony of that period is based on a sound ideal in which the homogeneity of the whole is coupled with the perfect autonomy and recognisability of the individual voices. The ensemble is, however, regularly expanded when the music on the programme so requires. In those occasions the group is joined by Giacomo Serra, Christian Gentilini, Sergio Martella, Brent Annable, and others.”

" The Ensemble Stampita is a group born in December 2003 dedicated to medieval music. We believe that music medieval-perhaps still little known outside the network of fans-could still be engaging and enjoyable even for a non-specialist public, and therefore is worth propose even outside of contexts so to speak "institutional". ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

"According to Greek mythology, ZEFIRO was the tender and kind God of the Western Wind. In 1989, the oboists Alfredo Bernardini and Paolo Grazzi, and the bassoonist Alberto Grazzi, members of the most outstanding baroque orchestras, founded ZEFIRO, a versatile music group specialising in the eighteenth-century repertoire that gives particular prominence to wind instruments. Since then, ZEFIRO has performed at many major European festivals, including those of Amsterdam, Aranjuez, Barcelona, Bonn, Geneva, Graz, Helsinki, Innsbruck, London, Liege, Lyons, London, Malmö, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Palma de Mallorca, Paris, Potsdam, Prague, Ravenna, Regensburg, Rome, Salzburg, Stuttgart, Stresa, Utrecht and Vienna. They have also played in Israel, Egypt, Japan, Korea, USA, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil and have always received enthusiastic responses from both audiences and the press. ..."

"Europa Galante has performed in many of the world's major concert halls and theatres: La Scala in Milan, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera House. The ensemble has toured throughout Australia, Japan, Canada, Israel, USA and South America and often collaborates with the Ente Santa Cecilia in Rome to find and restore eighteenth-century Italian operas such as Antonio Caldara's La Passione di Gesù Cristo and Leonardo Leo's Sant'Elena al Calvario. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“The Ex Novo Ensemble was founded in Venice in 1979 by the composer Claudio Ambrosini and seven young musicians, who have remained with the Ensemble over since. The Ex Novo Ensemble now represents a point of reference on the international panorama of new music.The continuity obtained by working together, its artistic and professional coherence, have bequeathed a certain character, a "sound", which both public and critics of the major European festivals recognize to the Ensemble.

Their commitment to exploring the language of contemporary music later became the basis for re interpreting classical repertory, particulary those scores composed for rare instrumental sets that, although very beautiful, remain little known.

Many world premieres and works dedicated to the Ex Novo Ensemble have also been presented in recordings of the major European broadcasting corporations.

The Ensemble's contribution to the chamber music of the early Italian nineteen hundreds, as seen by its long collaboration with large recording companies, is significant.”

"Italian ensemble with variable musicians (from triosonata to chamber orchestra), Festa Rustica is active in the ancient music field since ten years. Its first worldwide recording of the Francesco Mancini recorder concerts was for the Musicaimmagine(MR 1004) music company. The record obtained several positive feedbacks from national and international critics and according to the American magazine “Fanfare” is one of the world’s best classical music recordings produced in 1995 (“the want list 1995”). In addition to the numerous concerts performed in Italy (Settembre Musica, Oratorio del Gonfalone, A. D. M. Di Novara ecc...) and abroad (France, Spain, Albania) Festa Rustica has produced several recordings for Milan’s Agorà and ASV music companies. The founder and director of the ensemble is a recorder and cello player, Giorgio Matteoli, music expert and teacher at the Aquila conservatoire. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“GALATEA, founded and directed by Paul Beier, has performed in prestigious European festivals, and has recorded several CDs dedicated to Biagio Marini (Emanuela Galli, soprano; Monica Huggett, violin), Barbara Strozzi (Emanuela Galli, soprano), and Giovanni Battista Buonamente (Monica Huggett, violin and Bruce Dickey, cornetto). The repertoire of Galatea is centered on innovative Italian music of the beginning of the Seventeenth Century, experimental and virtuosic, of high artistic level, a bridge between the mature Renaissance and the Baroque period. The group comprises different instruments or voices according to the program, giving particular importance to the lute and other plucked stringed instruments for a rich and varied continuo. The name, recalling the legend of Pygmalion, who through his love transformed the marble statue of Galatea into a living person, symbolizes bringing Renaissance and Baroque music to life according to the spirit and practices of the period.“

"The Galinverna music group was born in Turin in 1996, with the purpose to make a research in different directions concerning ethnic and ancient music. By means of musical festivals and historical shows they could perform in most Northern and central Italy and in France, giving concerts of ancient music or playing within historical commemorations, making street animations with traditional music, theatrical co-operations and also concerts of original music, where the interest for the ancient music melts with the interest for Mediterranean and European folk sonorities. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

“Ghislieri Choir & Consort, Baroque ensemble in residence at the College Ghislieri, provides some of the best singers and instrumentalists Italian Baroque. Has an active project of rediscovery of the sacred choral reperorio the eighteenth century that will be released worldwide by Sony-Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. …” (Google Translate)

"Gruppo Seicento early music ensemble was established in 2002 by the effort of musicians dedicated for a long time to the early music in the will to face the baroque repertoire, with a special interest in Seventeen century Italian music, using original instruments or copies, studying the original sources of this period and performing on historical tunings.

The Gruppo Seicento has played in several early music concert seasons and festivals in Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and South America obtaining unanimous approval from the public and the critic. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)